Droopy Drawers

Droopy Drawers

By Heather LorRyn

            LIFESTYLE - Is this really a trend?! Exposed drawers (or underwear). I am somewhat discouraged that this is the pool of potential life partners from which young women have to choose. I don't particularly understand why exposed underwear is so popular among urban youth. I'm sure hip hop icons like Lil Wayne and Jim Jones have some influence on the way these young men dress.

            As I sat waiting on the bus to go to the mall, a young man boards and I immediately notice that he is very attractive. He turns around, forgetting to ask for a transfer and boom! I am greeted by his exposed drawers. For the life of me, I could not understand the fascination with having your backside exposed, especially in this weather. So, I decided at the spare of the moment to ask the young man why he wore his pants like this. He laughed and responded... "Everybody dresses like this."

            His answer didn't appease me and so I googled it to see if there was some other explanation for what I call "the baboon effect". Maybe others had the same question. In my research I found that the "baboon effect" is said to have originated in prison and is also called "jailin". It is rumored that male inmates would wear their pants low to signal other inmates that they were available for sex. Although that would make sense, the rumor is false. Then again, the truth really depends on what you believe.

            The trend did start in prisons, but only because prisoners who were often issued oversized uniforms were also not allowed to have belts for obvious reasons. Hence, the droopy drawers. The fashion statement was adopted by hip hop artists and has been passed on to fans for many years.

            In 2005, the Virginia House of Delegates attempted to legislate the "Droopy Drawers Bill" that would have imposed a $50 fine on anyone who wore their pants so that their underwear was considered "lewd or indecent." Louisiana attempted the same legislature a year before that would make it a criminal act to wear clothing in public that "intentionally exposed any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks or genitals." Both bills were rejected. Freedom of dress, I suppose.

            However unattractive the statement, it's definitely a trend that isn't going anywhere as long as hip hop culture has anything to say about it. My concern for the wearers of this trend is that I am not the only one observing your pants sagging, so are potential mates, employers, teachers, coworkers, people who hold opportunities for you. What is this fashion statement saying about who you are, what you stand for, and what you b